Southern California -- this just in

L.A. County voter turnout 'comparable' to 2008-04 levels

November 6, 2012 | 4:55
pm

About 41% of
registered Los Angeles County voters had cast their ballots by 3 p.m.
Tuesday, according to a spokeswoman with the county registrar-recorder's office.

That turnout was off
the pace of each of the last two presidential elections, officials said. In
2008, about 53% of registered voters had cast their ballots by 3 p.m. In 2004, voter
turnout was at about 48%.

Despite the lower raw
percentage, registrar spokeswoman Monica Flores called Tuesday’s turnout
“pretty comparable” to other presidential elections and painted a nuanced
picture of the data. She said Los Angeles has a record number of registered
voters for this election – 4.7 million – so the county may see a larger overall
turnout despite drawing a lower percentage of those registered.

Flores said that the 2008 presidential election had unusually
high turnout in part because there was no incumbent running and community
organizations were highly mobilized. She said each of the last two elections ultimately
saw about 80% voter turnout in the county, and Flores expects an uptick in
turnout between about 4 and 7 p.m., when voters get off work.